CBO: Budget deficit for 2016 registers at $588B

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the budget deficit for the just-completed fiscal year was $588 billion, about one-third greater than last year.

The government's tax receipts were mostly flat while spending rose by $168 billion to $3.9 trillion.

The deficit is equal to 3.2 percent of the size of the economy, a measure closely watched by analysts and economists. By that metric, the 2016 deficit represents the first increase after years of declines since the record deficits posted in the early years of President Barack Obama's tenure.

The White House budget office and the Treasury Department will release the official deficit tally later this month, but the CBO estimate is typically correct within a few billion dollars.